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Father time eventually catches up with everyone, and at some point it will be time for Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo to hang up his cleats, but that time isn’t anywhere in the near future for the franchise star. This week Jason Witten, the Cowboys’ Pro Bowl tight end, came out and said that “he can play as long as he wants” due to the fact that he takes excellent care of his body and because of the way the team played offensively last year. It’s because of that same reasoning that I have to agree with the six-time All Pro.
Sure it’s hard to play football at a professional level when you’ve had two back surgeries in the past three years, especially when one was for a herniated disk, but at some point your body does heal and you begin to learn exactly what your limitations are as a player after these injuries occur. You learn exactly what steps you have to take to keep playing at your highest level and what needs to be done to keep yourself healthy for an entire season. This was evident last year as the Cowboys realized that giving Romo a day off during the week helped give his back time to recover from the beating it took on Sundays and the results showed in the following games.
I know it’s a horrible to say, but Romo’s injuries may have been the best thing for both him and the Dallas Cowboys as it forced them to change their philosophy as a team. Jason Garrett had planned all along to revamp their offensive line so that they could once again have a dominant running game like they had with Emmitt Smith in the ’90s but Romo’s back injury and the fact that their defense was atrocious in 2013 made him accelerate the implementation of his plan.
And ever since the Cowboys became a run-first, ball-control offense, it helped keep Romo upright and also helped him become a more efficient passer. He now not only takes better care of the ball but he also takes fewer risks and as a result takes fewer hits during the games. He’s a smarter player now than he was when he first entered the league and it’s his smarts that will ultimately lead to him extending his career.
It also helps that his owner has also become wiser and is taking the necessary steps to help keep his star quarterback healthy. The team added two more pieces in La’el Collins and Chaz Green to help make sure that their offensive line is solid for years to come, and it’s because of these crafty moves that Romo will be able to play through the end of his contract which expires in 2019.
Kelly Anderson is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bgipp01 or add him to your network on Google.
